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AutoCheck vs CarFax - Which are you using?

We switched over to AutoCheck from Carfax several years ago Eley for the cost savings. We still keep a Carfax account for our manufacturer Certified Pre-owned programs that require a Carfax. We have not found many customers at all who objected to seeing an AutoCheck report when they ask to see the Carfax. As long as they can see the history of the car, the provider of the report doesn't seem to matter. Hope this helps.
 
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We still use CARFAX but I actually had a customer ask for an AutoCheck last night for the first time. I really don't see where one is advantageous over the other. The point is to be upfront and transparent with the customers about the history of the vehicles we sell, so I don't think 99% of them care which logo is at the top of the report.
 
Carfax has spent a lot of money in getting the consumer to relate their "brand" to the product. As Kleenex is to a tissue or Xerox is to making a copy.

This can be great for branding and marketing but at the same time it can become so associated to the product that it not only becomes generic, but the consumer no longer recognizes or is aware of the differences between the related brand from the actual product. Taking that scenario into consideration on top of the average consumer purchasing a new/used vehicle only every so many years, I believe what happens for most consumers is what Cody pointed out in his comment above...

We switched to Auto Check my old dealership, who I still consult with. In 4 years only one person absolutely had to have carfax.

In all the 20 years on the side of the dealership, I can't recall ever being at a dealership that used a different vehicle history report over Carfax. Therefore I have little to add to the AutoCheck vs CarFax debate.

For the longest time, Carfax had the competitive edge over any competitor due to it's relationships with the OEM's and Channel Partners such as Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. Unfortunately for Carfax, this once dominated landscape has changed over the last year or so.

With that being said, I believe we may see some interesting value ad features come out of the Carfax camp. Competition is good!

Lets not forget that of less than a year ago, Carfax has a set of new parents - IHS to buy Carfax owner R.L. Polk



FYI - this same question was posted several months ago. Click here for a few more comments around this topic.
 
We still use CARFAX but I actually had a customer ask for an AutoCheck last night for the first time. I really don't see where one is advantageous over the other. The point is to be upfront and transparent with the customers about the history of the vehicles we sell, so I don't think 99% of them care which logo is at the top of the report.

The biggest difference is price. AutoCheck can be much cheaper.
 
Autocheck is a must-have for us as we have a couple subprime lenders that will not finance vehicles with frame damage. If frame is called at the auction, it'll show up immediately on Autocheck. Carfax is a different story, it can take weeks if it even shows up at all. Learned that lesson the hard way when I had to switch a customer away from the vehicle at f&i stage because the lender told me it had frame damage even though our Carfax said it was clean. That's when I also learned Autocheck is what the banks use. I've stayed on the same page with them ever since, though I do sometimes miss the giant inflatable car fox we got to borrow one week per year.
 
Autocheck is a must-have for us as we have a couple subprime lenders that will not finance vehicles with frame damage. If frame is called at the auction, it'll show up immediately on Autocheck. Carfax is a different story, it can take weeks if it even shows up at all. Learned that lesson the hard way when I had to switch a customer away from the vehicle at f&i stage because the lender told me it had frame damage even though our Carfax said it was clean. That's when I also learned Autocheck is what the banks use. I've stayed on the same page with them ever since, though I do sometimes miss the giant inflatable car fox we got to borrow one week per year.

I understand that a local dealership was purchasing cars with frame damage because it had a clean CarFax report. Reportedly, they are in a class action lawsuit because of it. Amazingly, the GM has attracted the same amount of legal scrutiny at the last two stores he was at. A gift that keeps on giving.
 
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